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<h1 id="firstHeading" class="firstHeading">Punctuation</h1> <p>These are the punctuation symbols in C. The meaning of each symbol is detailed in the linked pages.</p>
<h3 id=".7B_.7D"> <code>{</code> <code>}</code>
</h3> <ul>
<li> In a <a href="struct" title="c/language/struct">struct</a> or <a href="union" title="c/language/union">union</a> definition, delimit the <span class="t-spar">struct-declaration-list</span>. </li>
<li> In an <a href="enum" title="c/language/enum">enum</a> definition, delimit the enumerator list. </li>
<li> Delimit a <a href="statements#Compound_statements" title="c/language/statements">compound statement</a>. The compound statement may be part of a <a href="function_definition" title="c/language/function definition">function definition</a>. </li>
<li> In <a href="initialization" title="c/language/initialization">initialization</a>, delimit the initializers. </li>
</ul> <h3 id=".5B_.5D"> <code>[</code> <code>]</code>
</h3> <ul>
<li> <a href="operator_member_access#Subscript" title="c/language/operator member access">Subscript operator</a>. </li>
<li> Part of <a href="declarations#Declarators" title="c/language/declarations">array declarator</a> in a <a href="declarations" title="c/language/declarations">declaration</a> or a <a href="type#Type_names" title="c/language/type">type-id</a>. </li>
<li> In <a href="initialization" title="c/language/initialization">initialization</a>, introduce a designator for an array element. <span class="t-mark-rev t-since-c99">(since C99)</span> </li>
<li> In an <a href="attributes" title="c/language/attributes">attribute specifier</a>, delimit the attributes. <span class="t-mark-rev t-since-c23">(since C23)</span> </li>
</ul> <h3 id=".23"> <code>#</code>
</h3> <ul>
<li> Introduce a <a href="../preprocessor" title="c/preprocessor">preprocessing directive</a>. </li>
<li> The <a href="../preprocessor/replace#.23_and_.23.23_operators" title="c/preprocessor/replace">preprocessing operator for stringification</a>. </li>
</ul> <h3 id=".23.23"> <code>##</code>
</h3> <ul><li> The <a href="../preprocessor/replace#.23_and_.23.23_operators" title="c/preprocessor/replace">preprocessing operator for token pasting</a>. </li></ul> <h3 id=".28_.29"> <code>(</code> <code>)</code>
</h3> <ul>
<li> In an expression, <a href="expressions#Primary_expressions" title="c/language/expressions">indicate grouping</a>. </li>
<li> <a href="operator_other#Function_call" title="c/language/operator other">Function call operator</a>. </li>
<li> In a <a href="sizeof" title="c/language/sizeof"><code>sizeof</code></a><span class="t-rev-inl t-since-c11"><span>, <a href="_alignof" title="c/language/ Alignof"><code>_Alignof</code></a></span><span><span class="t-mark-rev t-since-c11">(since C11)</span></span></span> <span class="t-rev-inl t-since-c23"><span>, <a href="typeof" title="c/language/typeof"><code>typeof</code></a> or <a href="https://en.cppreference.com/mwiki/index.php?title=c/language/typeof_unqual&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="c/language/typeof unqual (page does not exist)"><code>typeof_unqual</code></a></span><span><span class="t-mark-rev t-since-c23">(since C23)</span></span></span> expression, delimit the operand. </li>
<li> In an <a href="cast" title="c/language/cast">explicit cast</a>, delimit the type-id. </li>
<li> In a <a href="compound_literal" title="c/language/compound literal">compound literal</a>, delimit the type-id. <span class="t-mark-rev t-since-c99">(since C99)</span> </li>
<li> In a <a href="declarations" title="c/language/declarations">declaration</a> or a <a href="type#Type_names" title="c/language/type">type-id</a>, indicate grouping. </li>
<li> In a <a href="function_declaration" title="c/language/function declaration">function declarator</a> (in a <a href="declarations" title="c/language/declarations">declaration</a> or a <a href="type#Type_names" title="c/language/type">type-id</a>), delimit the parameter list. </li>
<li> In an <a href="if" title="c/language/if"><code>if</code></a>, <a href="switch" title="c/language/switch"><code>switch</code></a>, <a href="while" title="c/language/while"><code>while</code></a>, <a href="do" title="c/language/do"><code>do-while</code></a>, or <a href="for" title="c/language/for"><code>for</code></a> statement, delimit the controlling clause. </li>
<li> In a <a href="../preprocessor/replace#Function-like_macros" title="c/preprocessor/replace">function-like macro definition</a>, delimit the macro parameters. </li>
<li> In a <a href="../preprocessor/replace#Function-like_macros" title="c/preprocessor/replace">function-like macro invocation</a>, delimit the macro arguments or prevent commas from being interpreted as argument separators. </li>
<li> Part of a <code>defined</code><span class="t-rev-inl t-since-c23"><span>, <code>__has_include</code>, <code>__has_embed</code> or <code>__has_c_attribute</code></span><span><span class="t-mark-rev t-since-c23">(since C23)</span></span></span> preprocessing operator. </li>
<li> Part of a <a href="generic" title="c/language/generic">generic selection expression</a>. <span class="t-mark-rev t-since-c11">(since C11)</span> </li>
<li> In an <a href="atomic" title="c/language/atomic"><code>_Atomic</code></a> type specifier, delimit the type-id. <span class="t-mark-rev t-since-c11">(since C11)</span> </li>
<li> In a <a href="_static_assert" title="c/language/ Static assert">static assertion declaration</a>, delimit the operands. <span class="t-mark-rev t-since-c11">(since C11)</span> </li>
<li> In an <a href="_alignas" title="c/language/ Alignas"><code>_Alignas</code></a> specifier, delimit the operand. <span class="t-mark-rev t-since-c11">(since C11)</span> </li>
<li> In an <a href="attributes" title="c/language/attributes">attribute</a>, delimit the attribute arguments. <span class="t-mark-rev t-since-c23">(since C23)</span> </li>
<li> In a bit-precise integer type name (_BitInt<span class="br0">(</span>N<span class="br0">)</span>), delimit the size. <span class="t-mark-rev t-since-c23">(since C23)</span> </li>
<li> Part of <a href="../preprocessor/replace" title="c/preprocessor/replace"><code>__VA_OPT__</code></a> replacement in a variadic macro definition. <span class="t-mark-rev t-since-c23">(since C23)</span> </li>
<li> In a preprocessor parameter used in <a href="../preprocessor/embed" title="c/preprocessor/embed"><code>#embed</code> directives</a> and <code>__has_embed</code> preprocessing expressions, delimit the preprocessor parameter clause. <span class="t-mark-rev t-since-c23">(since C23)</span> </li>
</ul> <h3 id=".3B"> <code>;</code>
</h3> <ul>
<li> Indicate the end of </li>
<ul>
<li> a <a href="statements" title="c/language/statements">statement</a> (including the init-statement of a for statement) </li>
<li> a <a href="declarations" title="c/language/declarations">declaration</a> or <span class="t-spar">struct-declaration-list</span> </li>
</ul>
<li> Separate the second and third clauses of a <a href="for" title="c/language/for">for statement</a>. </li>
</ul> <h3 id=":"> <code>:</code>
</h3> <ul>
<li> Part of <a href="operator_other#Conditional_operator" title="c/language/operator other">conditional operator</a>. </li>
<li> Part of <a href="statements#Labels" title="c/language/statements">label declaration</a>. </li>
<li> In a <a href="bit_field" title="c/language/bit field">bit-field member declaration</a>, introduce the width. </li>
<li> Introduce an <a href="enum" title="c/language/enum">enum base</a>, which specifies the underlying type of the enum. <span class="t-mark-rev t-since-c23">(since C23)</span> </li>
<li> In a <a href="generic" title="c/language/generic">generic association</a>, delimit the type-id or <code>default</code> and the selected expression. <span class="t-mark-rev t-since-c11">(since C11)</span> </li>
</ul> <h3 id="..."> <code>...</code>
</h3> <ul>
<li> In the <a href="function_declaration#Parameter_list" title="c/language/function declaration">parameter list</a> of a function declarator, signify a <a href="variadic" title="c/language/variadic">variadic function</a>. </li>
<li> In a <a href="../preprocessor/replace" title="c/preprocessor/replace">macro definition</a>, signify a variadic macro. <span class="t-mark-rev t-since-c99">(since C99)</span> </li>
</ul> <h3 id=".3F"> <code>?</code>
</h3> <ul><li> Part of <a href="operator_other#Conditional_operator" title="c/language/operator other">conditional operator</a>. </li></ul> <h3 id="::"> <code>::</code>
</h3> <ul>
<li> In an <a href="attributes" title="c/language/attributes">attribute</a>, indicate attribute scope. <span class="t-mark-rev t-since-c23">(since C23)</span> </li>
<li> In a preprocessor prefixed parameter (used by <a href="../preprocessor/embed" title="c/preprocessor/embed"><code>#embed</code></a> and <code>__has_embed</code>), indicate scope. <span class="t-mark-rev t-since-c23">(since C23)</span> </li>
</ul> <h3 id="."> <code>.</code>
</h3> <ul>
<li> <a href="operator_member_access#Member_access" title="c/language/operator member access">Member access operator</a>. </li>
<li> In <a href="initialization" title="c/language/initialization">initialization</a>, introduce a designator for a struct/union member. <span class="t-mark-rev t-since-c99">(since C99)</span> </li>
</ul> <h3 id="-.3E"> <code>-></code>
</h3> <ul><li> <a href="operator_member_access#Member_access_through_pointer" title="c/language/operator member access">Member access operator</a>. </li></ul> <h3 id=".7E"> <code>~</code>
</h3> <ul><li> <a href="operator_arithmetic#Bitwise_logic" title="c/language/operator arithmetic">Unary complement operator (a.k.a. bitwise not operator)</a>. </li></ul> <h3 id=".21"> <code>!</code>
</h3> <ul><li> <a href="operator_logical#Logical_NOT" title="c/language/operator logical">Logical not operator</a>. </li></ul> <h3 id=".2B"> <code>+</code>
</h3> <ul>
<li> <a href="operator_arithmetic#Unary_arithmetic" title="c/language/operator arithmetic">Unary plus operator</a>. </li>
<li> <a href="operator_arithmetic#Additive_operators" title="c/language/operator arithmetic">Binary plus operator</a>. </li>
</ul> <h3 id="-"> <code>-</code>
</h3> <ul>
<li> <a href="operator_arithmetic#Unary_arithmetic" title="c/language/operator arithmetic">Unary minus operator</a>. </li>
<li> <a href="operator_arithmetic#Additive_operators" title="c/language/operator arithmetic">Binary minus operator</a>. </li>
</ul> <h3 id=".2A"> <code>*</code>
</h3> <ul>
<li> <a href="operator_member_access#Dereference" title="c/language/operator member access">Indirection operator</a>. </li>
<li> <a href="operator_arithmetic#Multiplicative_operators" title="c/language/operator arithmetic">Multiplication operator</a>. </li>
<li> Pointer operator operator in a <a href="declarations#Declarators" title="c/language/declarations">declarator</a> or in a <a href="type#Type_names" title="c/language/type">type-id</a>. </li>
<li> Placeholder for the length of a variable-length array declarator in a <a href="function_declaration" title="c/language/function declaration">function declaration</a>. <span class="t-mark-rev t-since-c99">(since C99)</span> </li>
</ul> <h3 id=".2F"> <code>/</code>
</h3> <ul><li> <a href="operator_arithmetic#Multiplicative_operators" title="c/language/operator arithmetic">Division operator</a>. </li></ul> <h3 id=".25"> <code>%</code>
</h3> <ul><li> <a href="operator_arithmetic#Multiplicative_operators" title="c/language/operator arithmetic">Modulo operator</a>. </li></ul> <h3 id=".5E"> <code>^</code>
</h3> <ul><li> <a href="operator_arithmetic#Bitwise_logic" title="c/language/operator arithmetic">Bitwise xor operator</a>. </li></ul> <h3 id=".26"> <code>&</code>
</h3> <ul>
<li> <a href="operator_member_access#Address_of" title="c/language/operator member access">Address-of operator</a>. </li>
<li> <a href="operator_arithmetic#Bitwise_logic" title="c/language/operator arithmetic">Bitwise and operator</a>. </li>
</ul> <h3 id=".7C"> <code>|</code>
</h3> <ul><li> <a href="operator_arithmetic#Bitwise_logic" title="c/language/operator arithmetic">Bitwise or operator</a>. </li></ul> <h3 id=".3D"> <code>=</code>
</h3> <ul>
<li> <a href="operator_assignment#Simple_assignment" title="c/language/operator assignment">Simple assignment operator</a>. </li>
<li> In <a href="initialization" title="c/language/initialization">initialization</a>, delimit the object and the initializer list. </li>
<li> In an <a href="enum" title="c/language/enum">enum definition</a>, introduce the value of enumeration constant. </li>
</ul> <h3 id=".2B.3D"> <code>+=</code>
</h3> <ul><li> <a href="operator_assignment#Compound_assignment" title="c/language/operator assignment">Compound assignment operator</a>. </li></ul> <h3 id="-.3D"> <code>-=</code>
</h3> <ul><li> <a href="operator_assignment#Compound_assignment" title="c/language/operator assignment">Compound assignment operator</a>. </li></ul> <h3 id=".2A.3D"> <code>*=</code>
</h3> <ul><li> <a href="operator_assignment#Compound_assignment" title="c/language/operator assignment">Compound assignment operator</a>. </li></ul> <h3 id=".2F.3D"> <code>/=</code>
</h3> <ul><li> <a href="operator_assignment#Compound_assignment" title="c/language/operator assignment">Compound assignment operator</a>. </li></ul> <h3 id=".25.3D"> <code>%=</code>
</h3> <ul><li> <a href="operator_assignment#Compound_assignment" title="c/language/operator assignment">Compound assignment operator</a>. </li></ul> <h3 id=".5E.3D"> <code>^=</code>
</h3> <ul><li> <a href="operator_assignment#Compound_assignment" title="c/language/operator assignment">Compound assignment operator</a>. </li></ul> <h3 id=".26.3D"> <code>&=</code>
</h3> <ul><li> <a href="operator_assignment#Compound_assignment" title="c/language/operator assignment">Compound assignment operator</a>. </li></ul> <h3 id=".7C.3D"> <code>|=</code>
</h3> <ul><li> <a href="operator_assignment#Compound_assignment" title="c/language/operator assignment">Compound assignment operator</a>. </li></ul> <h3 id=".3D.3D"> <code>==</code>
</h3> <ul><li> <a href="operator_comparison#Equality_operators" title="c/language/operator comparison">Equality operator</a>. </li></ul> <h3 id=".21.3D"> <code>!=</code>
</h3> <ul><li> <a href="operator_comparison#Equality_operators" title="c/language/operator comparison">Inequality operator</a>. </li></ul> <h3 id=".3C"> <code><</code>
</h3> <ul>
<li> <a href="operator_comparison#Relational_operators" title="c/language/operator comparison">Less-than operator</a>. </li>
<li> Introduce a header name in </li>
<ul>
<li> a <a href="../preprocessor/include" title="c/preprocessor/include"><code>#include</code> directive</a> </li>
<li> a <a href="../preprocessor/include" title="c/preprocessor/include"><code>__has_include</code> preprocessing expression</a> <span class="t-mark-rev t-since-c23">(since C23)</span> </li>
<li> a <a href="../preprocessor/embed" title="c/preprocessor/embed"><code>#embed</code> directive</a> <span class="t-mark-rev t-since-c23">(since C23)</span> </li>
<li> a <a href="../preprocessor/embed" title="c/preprocessor/embed"><code>__has_embed</code> preprocessing expression</a> <span class="t-mark-rev t-since-c23">(since C23)</span> </li>
<li> implementation-defined locations within a <a href="../preprocessor/impl" title="c/preprocessor/impl"><code>#pragma</code> directive</a> </li>
</ul>
</ul> <h3 id=".3E"> <code>></code>
</h3> <ul>
<li> <a href="operator_comparison#Relational_operators" title="c/language/operator comparison">Greater-than operator</a>. </li>
<li> Indicate the end of a header name in </li>
<ul>
<li> a <a href="../preprocessor/include" title="c/preprocessor/include"><code>#include</code> directive</a> </li>
<li> a <a href="../preprocessor/include" title="c/preprocessor/include"><code>__has_include</code> preprocessing expression</a> <span class="t-mark-rev t-since-c23">(since C23)</span> </li>
<li> a <a href="../preprocessor/embed" title="c/preprocessor/embed"><code>#embed</code> directive</a> <span class="t-mark-rev t-since-c23">(since C23)</span> </li>
<li> a <a href="../preprocessor/embed" title="c/preprocessor/embed"><code>__has_embed</code> preprocessing expression</a> <span class="t-mark-rev t-since-c23">(since C23)</span> </li>
<li> implementation-defined locations within a <a href="../preprocessor/impl" title="c/preprocessor/impl"><code>#pragma</code> directive</a> </li>
</ul>
</ul> <h3 id=".3C.3D"> <code><=</code>
</h3> <ul><li> <a href="operator_comparison#Relational_operators" title="c/language/operator comparison">Less-than-or-equal-to operator</a>. </li></ul> <h3 id=".3E.3D"> <code>>=</code>
</h3> <ul><li> <a href="operator_comparison#Relational_operators" title="c/language/operator comparison">Greater-than-or-equal-to operator</a>. </li></ul> <h3 id=".26.26"> <code>&&</code>
</h3> <ul><li> <a href="operator_logical#Logical_AND" title="c/language/operator logical">Logical and operator</a>. </li></ul> <h3 id=".7C.7C"> <code>||</code>
</h3> <ul><li> <a href="operator_logical#Logical_OR" title="c/language/operator logical">Logical or operator</a>. </li></ul> <h3 id=".3C.3C"> <code><<</code>
</h3> <ul><li> <a href="operator_arithmetic#Shift_operators" title="c/language/operator arithmetic">Bitwise shift operator</a>. </li></ul> <h3 id=".3E.3E"> <code>>></code>
</h3> <ul><li> <a href="operator_arithmetic#Shift_operators" title="c/language/operator arithmetic">Bitwise shift operator</a>. </li></ul> <h3 id=".3C.3C.3D"> <code><<=</code>
</h3> <ul><li> <a href="operator_assignment#Compound_assignment" title="c/language/operator assignment">Compound assignment operator</a>. </li></ul> <h3 id=".3E.3E.3D"> <code>>>=</code>
</h3> <ul><li> <a href="operator_assignment#Compound_assignment" title="c/language/operator assignment">Compound assignment operator</a>. </li></ul> <h3 id=".2B.2B"> <code>++</code>
</h3> <ul><li> <a href="operator_incdec" title="c/language/operator incdec">Increment operator</a>. </li></ul> <h3 id="--"> <code>--</code>
</h3> <ul><li> <a href="operator_incdec" title="c/language/operator incdec">Decrement operator</a>. </li></ul> <h3 id=".2C"> <code>,</code>
</h3> <ul>
<li> <a href="operator_other#Comma_operator" title="c/language/operator other">Comma operator</a>. </li>
<li> List separator in </li>
<ul>
<li> the declarator list in a <a href="declarations" title="c/language/declarations">declaration</a> </li>
<li> initializer list in <a href="initialization" title="c/language/initialization">initialization</a><span class="t-rev-inl t-since-c99"><span>, including <a href="compound_literal" title="c/language/compound literal">compound literals</a></span><span><span class="t-mark-rev t-since-c99">(since C99)</span></span></span> </li>
<li> the argument list in a <a href="operator_other#Function_call" title="c/language/operator other">function call expression</a> </li>
<li> the enumerator list in an <a href="enum" title="c/language/enum">enum</a> declaration </li>
<li> a function parameter list </li>
<li> the macro parameter list in a <a href="../preprocessor/replace#Function-like_macros" title="c/preprocessor/replace">function-like macro definition</a> </li>
<li> the macro argument list in a <a href="../preprocessor/replace#Function-like_macros" title="c/preprocessor/replace">function-like macro invocation</a>, unless found between an inner set of parentheses </li>
<li> the generic association list in a <a href="generic" title="c/language/generic">generic selection expression</a> <span class="t-mark-rev t-since-c11">(since C11)</span> </li>
<li> an <a href="attributes" title="c/language/attributes">attribute</a> list <span class="t-mark-rev t-since-c23">(since C23)</span> </li>
</ul>
<li> In a <a href="_static_assert" title="c/language/ Static assert">static assertion declaration</a>, separate the arguments. <span class="t-mark-rev t-since-c11">(since C11)</span> </li>
<li> In a <a href="generic" title="c/language/generic">generic selection expression</a>, separate the controlling expression and the generic association list. <span class="t-mark-rev t-since-c11">(since C11)</span> </li>
</ul> <h3 id="References"> References</h3> <ul>
<li> C23 standard (ISO/IEC 9899:2023): </li>
<ul><li> 6.4.6 Punctuators (p: 68-69) </li></ul>
<li> C17 standard (ISO/IEC 9899:2018): </li>
<ul><li> 6.4.6 Punctuators (p: 52-53) </li></ul>
<li> C11 standard (ISO/IEC 9899:2011): </li>
<ul><li> 6.4.6 Punctuators (p: 72-73) </li></ul>
<li> C99 standard (ISO/IEC 9899:1999): </li>
<ul><li> 6.4.6 Punctuators (p: 63-64) </li></ul>
<li> C89/C90 standard (ISO/IEC 9899:1990): </li>
<ul><li> 3.1.6 Punctuators </li></ul>
</ul> <h3 id="See_also"> See also</h3> <table class="t-dsc-begin"> <tr class="t-dsc"> <td> <a href="operator_alternative" title="c/language/operator alternative"> Alternative representations</a> <span class="t-mark-rev t-since-c95">(C95)</span> </td> <td> alternative spellings for certain operators </td>
</tr> <tr class="t-dsc"> <td colspan="2"> <span><a href="https://en.cppreference.com/w/cpp/language/punctuators" title="cpp/language/punctuators">C++ documentation</a></span> for <span class=""><span>Punctuation</span></span> </td>
</tr> </table> <div class="_attribution">
<p class="_attribution-p">
© cppreference.com<br>Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Unported License v3.0.<br>
<a href="https://en.cppreference.com/w/c/language/punctuators" class="_attribution-link">https://en.cppreference.com/w/c/language/punctuators</a>
</p>
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